After kicking off training camp on a positive note, welcoming veteran newcomers Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein into the fold, the Oklahoma City Thunder and their head coach, Mark Daigneault, received bad news during their third day of camp. Thunder's third-year center Jaylin Williams suffered a right hamstring strain and is expected to miss Oklahoma City's preseason schedule, per Sports Illustrated's Rylan Stiles.

“Jaylin Williams has a right hamstring strain and will be re-evaluated after the preseason, per a Thunder spokesperson,” Stiles reported.

Daigneault will rely on veteran Isaiah Hartenstein on both ends of the floor and the Thunder's young group of bigs in Chet Holmgren and Ousmane Dieng in Williams' absence. Williams averaged 4.4 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.5 assists in 18.7 minutes for the Thunder last season.

Mark Daigneault is thrilled to coach Alex Caruso, Isaiah Hartenstein

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Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault talked about the many advantages that come with implementing newcomers Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein.

“They’re both compete-together players, and we wanna be a compete-together team, and they’ve proven throughout the course of their careers that that’s who they are for the teams they play on,” Daigneault said. “In training camp, we’re starting with the most basic fundamentals to build a foundation that we can take into the season, and all of the iterations and evolutions happen from there. And if your foundation’s not strong, you can’t really do anything else; they’re two guys that have strong foundations to their game. And the stuff that we emphasize, which is boring and basic, is stuff that will resonate with them.”

So far, it's been a seamless fit for Caruso, Hartenstein, and the Thunder on both ends of the floor.

“It’s stuff that they’ve proven they can do, and that’s what’s most exciting,” Daigneault added. “Not just projecting where it goes but understanding that what we’re putting forward will resonate with them, and they will resonate with the group because of who they are.”

Caruso and Hartenstein will make their preseason debut on October 7.